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A Clockwork Orange – 1971 Kubrick
- Endless things to praise— I will start with the best single performance in a Kubrick film from Malcom McDowell. Sellers is great in Strangelove as is jack in the shining and kirk douglas in paths of glory but forced to choose I’d pick mcdowell—he’s chilling yet charming as well with his singing of singin’ in the rain, mocking the warden’s walk in prison and eating the steak being fed to him at the end with his mouth open and exaggerated chewing– superb
- Starts with a bang with that opening reverse tracking shot (pic above) of the milk bar. Cinematography and set design/mise-en-scene perfection
- The wide lens in the tunnel with the singing lush and shadows is a highlight—there’s a wide lens used all over the place actually- Kubrick wants you to see everything in every room
- Wendy/Walter Carlos’ genius synthesizer work (would collaborate again with Kubrick in the shining)
- Kubrick really isn’t influenced by anyone—it’s a rarity in cinema history
- McDowell not nominated for an Oscar
- Odd but beautiful post-modern murals and art is in the mise-en-scene at all turns
- It’s 2 hours and 16 minutes of visual highlights but certainly the slow motion shot of the 4 droogs walking along the water is amongst the best
- The first surrealism sequence is alex as a vampire with fangs, another is him as a roman whipping Christ (and fighting and lusting in biblical times) and the third is the brilliant finale “I was cured all right” which doesn’t have the cop-out ending/episode the book has. PT Anderson would echo this finale with his “can you put me back in?” in the master.
- Again for nearly 140 minutes you having searing images and memorable sequences- the eyelids forced open montage (turning Beethoven into a Kafkaesque nightmare)
- Film form at its best with the symmetry before, during and after the treatment of how he handles violence, women (rape) and robbery and of course he is met with people from his past (the droogs become cops, the drunks beat him up, and he stumbles into the same house he tortured prior to his treatment).
- Masterpiece- up there with the greatest 50 films of all-time
Drake2022-05-07T11:54:30-04:00
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It’s also very interesting how the whole cast is mostly composed of actors I just don’t recognize from any other roles (Philip Stone and McDowell obvious exceptions) – Kubrick was a master of casting without using big names, so many great little performances here the you look up the actor and they haven’t had any other roles.
@Harry- Patrick Magee (probably the 2nd biggest role in this film) was in some Stanley Baker films (Zulu, The Criminal).
@Malith – Yeah I forgot to mention him, he’s one of the more notable actors here and I have him in three top 100 films (Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange and The Servant)
https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-analysis/filmmakers/stanley-kubrick/why-a-clockwork-orange-is-probably-the-best-film-ever/
This article makes some good points. Also, McDowells’ only redeeming characteristic at the start being his love of Beethoven is oddly reminiscent of Ralph Richardson in Woman of Straw (Richardsons’ best role?) while he is otherwise vile, nasty and treats his servants like dogs. Richardson changes (as does McDowell) but at the start their love of Beethoven is their only redeeming characteristic. And this comes up at crucial moments in both films including the ending.
I have to say if there is a weakness in A Clockwork Orange it has to be the fact one of the three droogs (Pete I think) is treated as an afterthought and not given much if any lines. And he is not even in the scene where they beat Alex up as Policemen.
@Malith – From Kubric Wiki:
“Pete played a major part in the final chapter of the novel where he was happily married to a young woman named Georgina. He later met up with Alex and told him that he should think about starting a family and blend in with the rest of society as a normal citizen. However, in the film adaptation, for some reason, after Alex is released from prison, Pete was never seen again.”
I have not read the novel but it seems that Kubrick ends his film earlier than the novel in terms of the timeline
@James – It should be noted Kubrick does not go for the happy ending of the novel (He says it was not in the version of the novel he read, but who knows?). I’m not sure how this part can be fitted into the movie but still it’s not a good thing to leave that character out like that in the 2nd half. And doesn’t give him much of a personality in the first half either.
@Malith – I hear you, minor issue but fair point. Clearly Dim and Georgie had not reformed all that much even becoming police officers given that, first chance they get for revenge, they instantly take it and viciously beat and almost drown Alex. Agreed that it might be difficult to fit Pete into the later part fof the film especially if Pete is somewhat reformed. The film is divided almost exactly into thirds (45 minutes pre prison, 45 minutes in prison, 45 minutes after Alex gets out of prison). The final 45 minutes consists of everyone Alex wronged in the first part of the film, getting revenge on him so a reformed Pete (if he truly is reformed) would be difficult to put into the film in a way that would not feel contrived. Pete not having much of a personality in the early part is probably for the best as you don’t really care all that much about him. I showed this film to my brother a couple of weeks ago (he has seen a lot of movies but not this one) and when we talked about it afterwards he seemed to forget about Pete which I imagine is pretty common
@James- Looking back, I think Pete could have been included in the last section at the hospital. Where people come and visit Alex. A reformed Pete would be out of place before Alex tried to commit suicide and people drove him to his breaking edge.
The threesome in A Clockwork Orange is borrowed from Blow-Up and even has one of the same actresses Gillian Hills, this time playing the blonde instead of the brunette she did in Blow-Up.
I refer to your site often when I’m looking for some insight about a film’s aesthetics. I almost always find what I’m looking for even when I’m not looking. I appreciate the hard work you’ve done here. It’s a lot no doubt.
I’m just watching A Clockwork Orange now- again-for the umpteenth time, and I noticed yet another brilliant touch by Kubrick that I didn’t notice the other million times. A touch that I have to believe was intentional and which Kubrick was aware.
When the Droogs are walking alongside the Flatblock Marina it’s in slow motion so also of course is the water. The surface of the water is shifting perpetually like something alive on the surface coalescing and melting away and coming back together again. It’s a mesmerizing effect; the light hitting the water, and the slight disruption on the surface creating what looks like a moving tapestry of banality and reticence as if individual pieces of a puzzle assembled and detached on their own, smoothly over and over again until, of course, Alex lashes out and attacks.
Coincidentally, right after Alex strikes the first Droog, sending him into the drink, you might notice that there’s a cut and the surface of the water is suddenly completely calm right before Georgie is hit by Alex’s cane and falls in the water.
Anyway appreciate the analysis.
It’s only in the past couple of decades that I’ve come to appreciate the skills of master craftsman creating art in the visual of the motion pictures.
@Henry- Really appreciate the kind words regarding the site- thank you. And this is a great find on Clockwork- thanks for sharing this
@Harry- thank you for the help here and on the Kubrick page
Just ordered 4K blueray…very excited!
@James Trapp- very exciting!
@Drake – just watched the quality is phenomenal, I love the slow zooms Kubrick uses that he continued with in Barry Lyndon. So many great things in this Masterpiece but I think more than anything are the spectacular and often terrifying images that are burned into your memory such as the slow motion scene where Alex dished out beatings of his droogs, the image after Alex commits murder with a blunt object, Alex undergoing the treatment with his eyes forcibly kept open, and my personal favorite; the opening shot of Alex and his Droogs at the milk bar.
[…] A Clockwork Orange – Kubrick […]
Just got to rewatch this masterpiece last night. I don’t know exactly where I’d rank it but I agree it is one of the 50 best films ever made. There is a technical genius obviously but what I was more shocked at was kubrick’s manipulation regarding Alex. How he goes from this contemptible hoodlum to a sympathetic character. When the kid that is living with his parents tells him off, and the homeless man and the old droogs beat him up you feel terrible. Even when he is being abused by the writer who’s wife he brutalized. It is a great satire and that leads to one other point I want to make. When the writer finds out he is the kid in the news who got reprogrammed he is not at all repulsed by the fact that Alex was a murderer or any of his other crimes, but than when he heard gene kelly and realized it was the kid who attacked his wife and him he was filled with justified rage. Brilliant film.
@D.WGriffith- thanks for sharing your thoughts! Happy to hear we’re on the same page with this one
I just saw her again today, it’s
truly a magnificent movie, there is so much to praise, the production design, the mise-en-scene, in fact he has one of the best, the costumes, the rooms, the paintings, the statues, all designed related only to his world.
According to the best performance in a movie by Kubrick, also underrated, we should name McDowell in the best performances in history is terrifying and transcendent.
Great opening, one of the best, also, it has a great closing, many have great openings, other great final shots, but few great opening and closing shots, apart from this one, Apocalypse now and the searchers, any other that has those two characteristics?
It also has one of the few efficient fast camera uses, another film that uses the speed camera properly?
I also use incredible slow motion, i’m sure there is more depth here, but apart from Blade Runner, 7 samurai, any other examples?
Sorry to ask too much haha
When you say ‘beginning and ending’ do you mean bookends @Aldo?
Forrest gump has good bookends.
@Azman. No, I mean “first shot” and “final shot” for example probably the the best opening shot in any movie is Touch of evil and one of the best final shots is the third man, now, a movie that combines the two, few, this, the searchers and apocalypse now, maybe you can tell me some other
@Aldo– I think @JC is right- The Irishman, for my money, is the best of recent. 2001 had a great first and last shot, Whiplash and Gone Girl also come to mind… these are mostly contemporary films this puts a bunch of them together– ending as it should, with The Searchers https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-create-striking-first-and-final-frames-in-your-films/
@Aldo – Perhaps 2001 and Vertigo? There Will Be Blood is worth mentioning too. More recently, The Irishman has great opening and closing shots/sequences.
Raging Bull has some of the greatest use of (subtle and apparent) slow motion.
@Aldo- here is a good list of the best uses of slow-motion. http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2018/the-20-best-slow-motion-movie-scenes-of-all-time/ Clockwork is #2 so it must be a good list. I always think of The Wild Bunch first, Don’t Look Now is an inspired choice, the ending of Bonnie and Clyde… In the Mood For Love, lots of De Palma
I thought about 2001, but isn’t it too long? I mean are we taking even the elliptical cut of the bone?
I appreciate the articles that you shared very useful, also thanks @JC
I always forget to see the wild bunch, is it really that good? I see you have it above of Once Upon a Time in the West
Greatest opening and closing shots ever in cinema history. Kubrick is truly the greatest auteur of all-time. Utmost respect, Sir.
@Amresh. Thanks for the comment and for sharing your thoughts. I’ll take the opening and closing of The Searchers over it and Hitchcock by a hair over Kubrick but I am not going to argue with you too strongly on either. You may be right– especially on Kubrick. Kubrick, and Clockwork, are absolutely magnificent so you won’t see me saying a bad word about either.